Groups | Search | Server Info | Keyboard shortcuts | Login | Register [http] [https] [nntp] [nntps]

Groups > stl.general > #5278

GOP scores another gerrymandering victory with Missouri Supreme Court win

Cross-posted to 5 groups.

Show all headers | View raw

The Missouri Supreme Court enacted the state’s Republican-drawn
gerrymander on Tuesday, allowing it to likely take effect for the
midterms by handing the GOP victories on two major redistricting cases. 

The court ruled that the state’s new map — which Republicans in the
Legislature drew to break up a Kansas City-area Democratic seat and
shift the delegation from 6-2 Republican to a 7-1 advantage — did not
violate the state constitution’s redistricting clause. The court also
ruled against Democrats in the state who filed a petition seeking to
force a referendum on the map, declaring the filing of the petition does
not automatically suspend the new map. 

The decisions strike a huge blow to Democrats, who had asked the court
to enjoin the GOP gerrymander, and significantly reduce the prospect of
the map’s opponents being able to prevent the new lines from being used
in November. 

It’s the latest in a series of redistricting victories won by
Republicans through the courts. The Supreme Court ruled last month to
weaken the Voting Rights Act, clearing the way for several
Republican-controlled states in the South to pursue new congressional
maps ahead of the midterms. And Virginia’s Supreme Court invalidated a
referendum-approved map on Friday that would have tilted four seats
toward Democrats. 

James Blair, the former White House deputy chief of staff who is
overseeing President Donald Trump’s political operation, celebrated the
court’s decisions as a death blow to the long-shot Democratic effort. 

“Locked in Missouri,” he wrote on social media.

The Missouri court upheld lower court decisions in both cases, rejecting
an argument in one case from lawyers working with the Democratic-aligned
National Redistricting Foundation who claimed the GOP gerrymander
violated a clause in the Missouri Constitution stating that the state’s
congressional districts must be compact. 

NRF executive director Marina Jenkins accused the court of ignoring
Democrats’ arguments and suggested the court “had their opinion already
finalized even before this morning’s argument.” 

“With this decision, the Missouri Supreme Court has shown Missourians
the lack of seriousness with which it takes cases that pertain to
protecting their right to vote—a complete and dangerous abdication of
the judiciary’s role,” she said. 

In the second case, the court rejected an argument from Democrats that
the new map must be temporarily suspended while the Missouri secretary
of state considers the referendum petition on the new map, in order to
preserve Missourians’ state constitutional right to petition for
referenda before laws are enacted. 

While Democrats’ referendum petition is still pending approval, the
decision may end up eliminating the possibility of freezing or canceling
the map before November. Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, a Republican,
can wait until late July to determine whether the referendum is valid
and would go in front of voters. 

If it is validated, state law requires any law under consideration for
voters to be suspended. 

But a decision from Hoskins could come days before the state’s Aug. 4
primaries. Republicans hope that the timing so close to an election
would make it impossible to stop the primary, effectively putting the
7-1 map in place while Missouri voters consider if they want to
invalidate it or not. 

People Not Politicians, the Democratic group that organized the
referendum campaign, has said it has submitted enough valid signatures
to push the new map to a vote. Richard von Glahn, the organization’s
executive director, called on Hoskins to make a determination on the
referendum as soon as possible. 

“Unnecessary delays by politicians do not change this fact. If he
continues to delay then he is moving forward under a map that has been
suspended by the people,” he said in a statement. 

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/05/12/republican-gerrymandering-missou
ri-victory-00917806 

Back to stl.general | Previous | Next | Find similar | Unroll thread

Thread

GOP scores another gerrymandering victory with Missouri Supreme Court win Pelosi Goes To prison <noreply@mixmin.net> - 2026-05-13 09:35 +0100

csiph-web